More news from the land of disruption: ABC and Warner Brothers TV have done a deal that should worry the locals yet again. The new shows Big Shots, Men in Trees, Notes from the Underbelly and Pushing Daisies will stream on ABC.com online (as has been standard policy) for four weeks after broadcast. The disruption? Broadcasting & Cable writes:
In the second year of the deal, Warner Bros. has the rights to stream past episodes of the shows that previously streamed on ABC.com… Warner can stream episodes to unlimited outlets, but episodes will be branded ABC and promote back to the network.
So now locals that are used to milking syndicated reruns should be concerned that the networks are going around them twice: once in the show’s original run, and then again in syndication. Get into the original, local production business and you’ll always own your stuff.